This story was
written back in 1979. It is the first story I ever wrote that made
it beyond my notebook. This was part of a contest that was sponsored
by a unit of my Church and it got fourth place. So be warned;
it is highly religious. I was going to excise a bit of the deep
religion, but decided not to do more than fix some grammar, spelling-
minor things like that. I have added a bit more detail,
because I was under serious space restraints in the original
story. Below is the explanation that I wrote with the three
and a half page piece.

"It had always
bothered me that most series always ended with no {satisfactory}
conclusions. Somewhere two people are searching for their missing
father {even forgot what series that was!} and somewhere else, the Galactica
is still searching for Earth. This, then, is my conclusion, one that
Glen Larson would understand, but not ABC."

A Return to the Fold

An LDS Sci Fi

Major Nick McMillen gazed
absentmindedly out of the window at the black expanse, which surrounded
him on all sides.At this
particular moment, because he was facing away from Earth and the sun, his
view consisted of thick darkness, dotted with innumerable stars.Imagine seeing the planets that revolve around those stars,
he thought wistfully.The
ship he was in was a modified shuttle of the type that was first launched
in the late seventies with seeming apathy.Now, however, the shuttle’s usefulness was being reaffirmedin the newly developed weather control system.Only functional from Earth orbit, the weather satellites
would allow agriculture in areas that had hitherto supported little or
nothing.As Nick had told the
newcaster before the launch, “The whole Earth could ‘blossom like the
rose’.”

A voice interrupted his
reverie.“This is Mission Control.Nick, we’re set to try the program again.”

“Okay, Lindy.Are you sure the whiz kids have that computer straightened out
now?” he asked, referring to the experimental navigational equipment
that had been installed for testing in his shuttle, The Dolphin.

“Ten-four.”There was a chuckle.“At
least they say they do.”Alan
Lindbergh paused dramatically, then sighed.“Just kidding.They
do.But you know the
procedure.Keep your fingers
near the manual over-ride.They
were telling Colonel Brick that it might be incompatibility with some of Dolphin’s
modified computer systems.Anyway,
standby for countdown.You
have two minutes and counting.”

“Affirmative, Mission
Control.I am ready,” Nick replied.How time flies when you’re having a good time, he thought
and gave everything a last quick check.Just as Mission Control announced the beginning of the experimental
flight sequence, his whole body was slammed back into his padded seat, as
a tremendous roar enveloped the entire ship.It became hard to breathe and even the stars outside seemed to blur
and shift.At what seemed an
almost eternal slowness, Nick finally reached the manual override switch.

Oh, Lord, he thought
in despair, as he flipped the switch and nothing happened.In a few minutes, however, the roar subsided, the ensuing silence
almost as painful as the roar was.

“Major McMillen, do you
copy?” Lindbergh sounded almost hysterical.

“Affirmative, Lindy,”
Nick answered softly.And
indeed, except for his situation and a not unbearable headache, he was
fine.“I’m all in one
piece, but I seemed to have changed course somewhat drastically, to put it
mildly.The instruments are
starting to settle down a bit, but the readings I am getting are all
nuts.”

“We show you somewhere
beyond the orbit of Mars.”Lindy
paused and then his voice became soft as well.“I don’t know what happened, or how you attained that kind of
velocity, but you have no fuel left.”

“I know.And I also know that there is nothing that can remedy this
situation short of a miracle.”Nick
looked out at the vast expanse that had suddenly become the enemy.He reached out and touched the glass, wishing that he had his wife
with him, even for a moment, so he could look into her eyes and feel the
softness of her cheek.But
she was safe and he had his memories of the days before the launch.“Could you please get Lori, so I can talk to her?”

“Sure Nick, right away.”

At least, Nick
thought, Lori and I were married in the Temple last year and Kevin was
sealed to us.‘For time and all eternity’ he repeated in his mind.Now if only he could have seen the child Lori was now carrying.The chatter and hum of the radio faded as Nick continued to soar
into the vastness of the inky blackness that lay ahead.He talked to Lori several times until the final good-bye.For time and all eternity.They would be together forever someday.Nick’s reserve of oxygen and supplies were almost
gone now, even with strict conservation of energy.His orbital mission had been slated for three weeks and he was now
in his twenty-fourth day.If
he had gone in a different direction, he might be getting a good view of
Jupiter, but he didn’t even have that satisfaction.How he had missed slamming into an asteroid was beyond him.It certainly would have been a quicker end to what was
happening now.

It became more and more
difficult to concentrate.It
as all he could do to focus on what was outside the window.“It must be oxygen deprivation,” he murmured.“I keep seeing lights coming on and off in front of my eyes.”Another flash and then another appeared ahead of him.Nick’s grogginess temporarily dissipated as his curiosity was
piqued.There was something
out there.A rescue ship?But no, there were no ships that could get to him now, or they
would have told him.

Suddenly a long-nosed sleek
space craft streaked across his field of vision.It was white, bearing red trim.A second, much longer fly-by revealed short fins or wings on the
back of the craft.It had a
gun of some sort mounted in front of the side wing.It looked very efficient.“A
UFO,” Nick breathed, then he passed out.

========================

Despite his love for deep
space exploration, Apollo was not at all thrilled with this assignment.In fact, he admitted to himself, he was downright bored.Too many star systems had turned up nothing, or had revealed
unpleasant surprises, like the last one where Boomer had almost lost his
life to a planetary defense system.It
had been defending a planet whose inhabitants had long since disappeared.Perhaps, he thought wryly, they should have found a way
to get through the defense shield and just simply settled on the planet.Maybe it would have given them peace from the Cylons.But then, even the Cylons seemed to have lost contact with them
lately.Hopefully, it would
remain that way.A flashing
light on his panel cut Apollo’s reverie short.

“Picking up a small craft
approaching at sub-light speed, sir,” a very business-like young voice
stated.

“I’ve got it on my
monitor, Boxey.Let’s go in for a closer look,” Apollo returned.“By the way, son, complete formality is not a necessity way out
here, just vigilance.”

“All right, Father, sounds
good to me.”

Apollo brought his attention
back to the strange craft, which to his eye, was never meant for extra
solar flight.“It doesn’t
have any apparent weaponry, but let’s take this carefully anyway,”
Apollo observed.“I’ll make a quick fly-by and you try raising any
occupants on your communicator.”

“Will do.”

The computer silently
accumulated its data as Apollo’s craft made it first pass of the ship.“I’m going by slower this time, Boxey.This one’s got me intrigued.”Apollo angled in closer until he was almost at a standstill in
front of the drifting spacecraft.“By
the Lords of Kobol!” he exclaimed.“Boxey, this one has a human and he appears in trouble.There’s no oxygen inside, according to my readouts.I’m going to put a stass-field on his ship and I want you to get
back to the Galactica and send out help.A stass won’t last long.”

“Right, Father,” Boxey
replied tersely.“I’m
going back now.

Apollo set the stass and
settled down to wait, hoping it wouldn’t be too long.

==========================

Nick
woke up with the remnants of a dream of Lori and Kevin to find himself in
a room that was brightly white.A
brief second had him wondering if he was in heaven, then he saw two men
gazing at him, one in a black and silver outfit and the other in brown, a
pistol strapped to his thigh.The
room was more like what one would find in a hospital, rather than in
heaven.He remembered his
last hours on his shuttle and wondered what had happened to him after he
had passed out from oxygen deprivation.

The man in black had a shock
of strikingly white hair and gentle eyes.“Major McMillen,” he said, gazing at the tag on his
astronaut’s jump suit.“I am Commander Adama.I hope you can understand me.If not, I have a translator available.”

“I can understand you
quite well,” Nick replied.And
indeed he could, despite the formality of the older man’s delivery.The younger man, who somehow made him think of some kind of Air
Force pilot, seemed a bit startled as he spoke.Nick sat up and gazed around, his feelings of being in a hospital
room intensified.Then
he studied the two men.Could
someone have managed to rescue me?Could
I be back on Earth?But
there was something that told him that this was no hospital he had ever
heard of.He wondered what
came next.“Who are you?I mean, you told me your name, but what country are you from?Where is this?The
last thing I remember is passing out on the Dolphin.”

Adama’s expression changed
to one of painful yearning.“Tell
me first, from which planet have you come?”

Nick was shocked at the
question and his wonder grew.“Uh,
Earth, of course.Where….”

To Nick’s surprise, tears
started coursing down the old man’s cheeks and he turned to the younger
man.“We found it, Apollo,
by the Lords of Kobol, we finally found it!”

Nick sat in quiet confusion
as the two men vented their emotions.The younger man, Apollo, seemed more in control of himself, but the
two were visibly moved.Finally
Adama composed himself and turned back to Nick.“This is my son, Captain Apollo, and we represent the last humans
of the twelve colonial planets.We
have been looking for Earth these past twenty centons.”

Nick looked from one man to
the other.“Colonial
planets?Centons?” Nick sputtered.“Where by all that’s holy, am I?”

Apollo answered, “You are
aboard the Battlestar Galactica, which is just within the orbit of
the largest planet of your solar system.”

Nick was unable to say a
word for several minutes.

“Would you like to see
some of the Galactica?” Adama asked.

Nick nodded as he slid off
the table.Two hours later, a
very befuddled and overwhelmed Nick allowed himself to be led to a large
room where twelve bewildered looking men sat.“These men are members of the Quorum of the Twelve.Let me introduce you to each of them.They will want to know more about Earth.”

Nick’s mind did a sudden
about face.He remembered all
the conversation of the past two hours.“Quorum of the Twelve?Kobol?What religion are you?”The
idea of space travelers having a religion that was the same as one on
Earth boggled him.

“Religion?” Adama asked.“We are of the religion of the Lords of Kobol.”

Nick almost choked.“My church has a Quorum of the Twelve.And Kobol is the exalted dwelling place of God.No, wait . . . that’s Kolob, but the names are so close.”

The twelve men, almost as a
body, rose and started forward.“My
friends,” Adama said, “This is Major McMillen from the planet Earth.It seems that we have more in common than just being human.”He turned to Nick.“What else does Earth’s religion believe?”

“Well, first,” Nick
began.“It’s not the only
religion on Earth.We believe
in eternal life—eternal marriages and families….”

Apollo looked misty-eyed.“Serena, my wife, and I are eternally sealed.”He paused a moment.“Before
she was killed in a Cylon attack.”

“Yes, my family and I are
sealed together, too.”Nick
had a rapt audience, but there was something he had to ask first.“May I contact my wife from here and let her know I am alive?”

“Yes, of course, as soon
as we make sure our enemies, the Cylons, have not followed us here,” one
of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve said.“Can you tell us more?”

Nick nodded his
understanding.“We have a prophet who leads our church by revelation from
our Lord Jesus Christ….”Several
hours later, another of the members of the Quorum said quietly, “We have
indeed reached Earth, our destination and hopefully, our home.”

(Author's Note-- If there is
anything confusing to you in this story, please contact me and I will be
happy to explain. )